Canon Rebel XTi Design

Here are a few shots of the Canon Rebel XTi, some captured by us, others courtesy of Canon USA, Inc. These should give you a pretty good idea of what the camera looks like (inside and out).

The obligatory front 3/4 view from Canon, of a black Rebel XTi...

And here's a shot of the silver Rebel XTi. Canon calls this color "Chrome," and it has a very different finish from the original Rebel or XT. It's hard to describe, but it's very nice looking. The largish-looking lens in this shot is the 17-85mm EF-S IS lens, a neat lens with a useful focal length range and image stabilization in a surprisingly compact package.

Here's a really cool see-through rendering of the Canon Rebel XTi. Click the image to see a larger version. If you'd like to make a wall poster of this shot, here's a really huge version of the image!

The front of the Canon Rebel XTi features the EF and EF-S compatible lens mount. On the outside edge of the lens mount is the red dot for lining up standard EF lenses, as well as a white square, corresponding to the same alignment icon on the new EF-S lenses. There's also the lens release button and the redeye reduction lamp (the frosted window at upper left in the view above).

Left and right views. You can see the Canon Rebel XTi's Flash release, Lens release, and DOF preview button on the left side, just the CF compartment cover and the rubber door to accomodate the cord from the optional AC adapter's dummy battery.

The back of the Canon Rebel XTi is where it all happens, from an operational standpoint. The back panel control layout is very similar to that of the Rebel XT, but there are a few changes. The Menu and DISP button positions are swapped, the DISP being the new name for the INFO button on the XT. The button still cycles through display modes, but also turns the main shooting display off if you so desire.

Of course, the biggest difference is the increased size of the color LCD (2.5 vs. 1.8 inches for the XT), which has forced them to eliminate the separate monochrome Status LCD. Also visible is the Rebel XTi's IR sensor just below the optical viewfinder.

You can also see the Canon Rebel XTi's thumb-grip pad in the upper right, and the sculpted ridge along the right side that gives your thumb much more secure purchase than on the original XT.

The Canon Rebel XTi's connector compartment, essentially identical to the one on the Rebel XT.

The top of the Canon Rebel XTi features the Shutter button, Mode dial, Main dial, and Power switch. The pop-up flash compartment is just behind the lens. The top of the camera also contains a hot shoe for mounting an external flash unit. The Rebel XTi's hot shoe has the usual trigger terminal in the center, as well as four other contacts for interfacing to Canon EX Speedlite flash units, and a hole for a locking pin to prevent rotation of the speedlight. Fixed neck strap eyelets are located on both sides of the Canon Rebel XTi's top panel as well.

One of the more significant design changes is in the grip design. This shot exaggerates the size difference in the grip of the Rebel XTi (on the right). The camera body itself is about a millimeter thicker than the XT's, and the front grip protrudes about 3mm further from the camera body than does the grip on the XT. The actual size difference is really minimal, but the difference in comfort and security is huge.

The very flat bottom of the Canon Rebel XTi reveals the metal tripod mount, as well as the main NB-2LH Lithium Ion battery chamber cover. The main battery compartment cover is removable, necessary when installing the optional vertical grip on the camera. A small latch lever at the outside edge of the battery chamber cover unlocks it so that it may be opened. Also inside the compartment is the slot for the CR2016 3V battery that keeps the camera settings in memory when the main battery dies. The battery compartment cover is far enough from the tripod socket that you should be able to swap batteries without removing the camera from your tripod mount. The large surface area of the Canon Rebel XTi's bottom provides a stable mounting surface for use with a tripod, even with fairly large lenses attached.